The present invention relates to a cup for a container and to an assembly of such a cup with a container.
It is well known for vacuum flasks and other containers to be provided with a drinking cup. Generally the container has an external shoulder forming a mouth which provides access to a storage cavity in the container and which shoulder is provided with an external screw thread to which can be fitted an inverted cup having a corresponding internal screw thread. The fitted cup provides a convenient cover for the mouth of the container (although the latter will usually be closed by a bung or stopper) thereby shielding the mouth and the interior of the cup from contamination and ensuring that the cup is conveniently and readily available for use. Furthermore, the screw threaded connection between the cup and container desirably provides a firm engagement in the event that a filled container is lifted or carried by its cup. This firm engagement is most desirable, especially with vacuum flasks having double walled glass insulating fillers which may be broken in the event that the flask is lifted by its cup and subsequently dis-engages from the cup to smash on the floor! A cup fitted to a container can also add considerably to the overall aesthetic design and marketing appeal which is of considerable importance for a commercially successful product. It has also been proposed to provide vacuum or other insulated containers for so-called leisure ware (especially containers having a relatively large capacity), with two cups where a relatively small cup is press fitted over the mouth of the container and a relatively larger cup is subsequently fitted over the small cup to accommodate it and to screw threadedly engage with the container. Naturally this arrangement is convenient for simultaneous consumption of the container contents by two people but it has the disadvantage that the different sized cups is somewhat discriminative and that the press-on inner cup may easily be mislaid or become loose within the screw fitted larger cup to provide an annoying rattle. Furthermore, when the small and larger cups are fitted to the container the presence of the inner cup is not readily apparent. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup for a container and a container assembled with such a cup by which the disadvantages as indicated above of the prior proposals can be alleviated.